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NITED STATES ATENT OFFICE.

MICHAEL J. I-IOWLET'I, OF BAYONNE, NEW JERSEY.

TOY PUZZLE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 571,477, dated November 17, 1896.

Application filed March 11,1896- T0 at whont it may concern:

Be it known that 1, MICHAEL J. HOWLETT, a citizen of the United States, residing at Bayonne, in the county of Hudson and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Toy Puzzles, of which the following is a specification, reference being had to the drawings accompanying and forming a part of the same.

The invention subject of my present application for Letters Patent is a toy or puzzle, the general nature of which may be stated as follows: A device of any character which will spring up into view from a box or case when released from restraint, and of which the ordinary jack-in-the-box is an example, is held down in its containing case or box by a series of slides arranged or constructed to engage with the said device when in one of two determined positions and to be disengaged therefrom when in the other position, but while some slides are released from the device when they are in a given position others look it when in the same position, and the working out of the puzzle lies in discovering which slides must be moved to one position and which to-the other in order to release what, for convenience, may be styled the jack.

I desire to state that so far as the mere mechanical construction and arrangement of the parts or elements of this toy or puzzle are concerned great changes may be made without departure from the invention, and in the specific description which follows, in connection with the drawings, I have merely intended to show the best and most practical embodiment of the invention of which I am now aware and those features only which are essential to the combination in which the improvement is or may be found.

Figure 1 is a top plan View of the device with the cover removed. Fig. 2 is a central vertical section of the same.

A is a shallow circular box containing a similar but smaller box or closed case B, under which is a spring-jack, the top of which is a disk of wood or paper 0, which, when the jack is locked in, lies flush with the surface of the case 13. Under the disk 0 is a rigid part containing a groove D or a series of notches or indentations into which extend the ends of a number of slides or pin stops E.

Serial No, 58 2,6 94. (No model.)

These latter pass into the case B through the side walls thereof and have blocks or knobs at their ends by which they are readily drawn out or pushed in. So long as any one or more of the slides E are pushed in to their fullest extent the jack is engaged or locked down against the action of the spring. There are also a certain numb er of slides F, which while undistinguishable exteriorly from the others differ from them in that they are carried under the jack and then turned back, as shown, so that they only engage with the latter when pulled out to their fullest extent. Usually there will be only a few of these slides compared with the others.

It will be seen that by pulling out the proper slides and leaving the others in the jack will be released and jump from the box.

The blocks or knobs which form the. exposed portions of the slides may be differently numbered, lettered, or otherwise distinguished, and the two sets of slides may be interspersed in an arbitrary or any predetermined manner, but these are matters which do not constitute the essence of the invention.

l/Vhat I claim is-- 1. A toy puzzle comprising in combination with a box or case a spring-jack contained therein, a series of slides movable through the sides of the box toward and away from the jack, the ends of a portion of the slides engaging directly with the jack, while the ends of the other slides are extended beyond or bent back toward the jack so that the firstnamed ends of the slides will be brought into engagement with and lock the jack, while those of the others will be disengaged therefrom by the same movement of the slides relatively to the jack, as set forth.

2. The combination with the circular box B, the springjack contained therein, the slides E passing through the sides of the box and engaging with the jack when pushed in, and the slides F passing under the jack and turned back so as to engage therewith when pulled out, as herein described.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 7th day of March, 1896.

MICHAEL J. HOWLETT.

Witnesses:

J. M. JOHNSON, JAMEs N. GArLow. 

